The two historic clubs come head-to-head at Palau Blaugrana
Barcelona vs. Maccabi: A must-win encounter for both teams
The 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season is coming towards its finale, with FC Barcelona (21-11) hosting Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (19-13) in a crucial game for both sides in Round 33. At this point of the campaign, every win is priceless – and even more so when postseason basketball is on the line.
Playoffs, play-in at stake
Barcelona has been in the upper echelons of the standings for the majority of the season, holding second place longer than any other squad. That said, Roger Grimau’s charges have been unable to rubber stamp a playoff spot just yet after losing three of their last six games, all of which have come against direct competitors in the race to finish in the top six: the 21-11 AS Monaco (67-77 in Round 27), the 20-12 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (88-74 in Round 30) and the 21-11 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (89-81 in Round 31).
Nevertheless, Barcelona will qualify for the playoffs if it beats Maccabi on Thursday night. Alternatively, the Spanish side will advance if either Fenerbahce or the 20-12 Olympiacos Piraeus loses, or if it loses by fewer than 14 points in regulation and Monaco wins. Plenty of possibilities!
On the other hand, Maccabi bounced back in March, becoming the only undefeated team in the EuroLeague last month. It is currently on a six-game winning streak, which has allowed Oded Kattash’s group to enter the fight for the playoffs.
A loss at Palau Blaugrana, however, would send Maccabi to the seventh place due to its tiebreak disadvantage against Olympiacos (0-2) and Fenerbahce (1-1, -30), who face each other in Round 34. Maccabi will also be locked in to seventh place if it wins by up to 13 points and Olympiacos, Fenerbahce, Monaco and Panathinaikos all win.
Backcourt fun with Baldwin, Ricky
Maccabi's Wade Baldwin come into this game in arguably the best form of his EuroLeague career. He was just chosen as the EuroLeague MVP for March, averaging 18.4 points, 4.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals and a PIR of 23.2, drawing 34 fouls in five games and being very effective from the free-throw line, going 33 for 38 (86.8% FT).
Earlier this season, Baldwin had a solid performance against Barcelona in Round 10. Despite his team's 90-92 home loss, Baldwin led Maccabi with 19 points and 8 assists. He is about to test his all-around offensive skills against an elite defender at a venue where he has not played particularly well in the past.
Baldwin has not often enjoyed facing Barcelona at Palau Blaugrana, having averaged 11.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and a PIR of 12.3 in four games at the home of the Blaugrana, of which three were in the EuroLeague and one was in the Spanish League. Despite that, Baldwin has tasted victory at Palau Blaugrana with FC Bayern Munich and Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.
The American’s matchup against Ricky Rubio should be a one of the keys to this contest as the Spaniard is an accomplished defender, although he is still finding his best rhythm. Rubio ranks in the Top 100 in steals in NBA history (1,226, 1.8 spg.) and has a similar average (1.9 spg.) in 69 EuroLeague career games. Whether Rubio can put the clamps on Baldwin may be a determining factor in the outcome of this Round 33 matchup.
Effectiveness under the rims
The battle in the paint should be another key factor in this game as both teams rely on their highly skilled big men to make the difference. When it comes to PIR per minute, it is hard to do better than Barca's centers, Willy Hernangomez and Jan Vesely. Hernangomez leads the competition in PIR per 40 minutes at 32.2, averaging 27.3 points, 12.1 rebounds and 8.5 fouls drawn per 40 minutes. Vesely is fourth overall at 30.1 PIR per 40 minutes. He also has strong numbers (23.8 ppg., 8.1 rpg., 6.1 fouls drawn) on a per-40-minutes basis.
Given the fact that Hernangomez and Vesely have combined for 213 fouls drawn (6.7 per game), Maccabi’s Josh Nebo has to do his best to stay out of foul trouble, just as he did in Round 10 when he posted 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 fouls drawn and zero fouls committed in over 16 minutes on the floor. Nebo ranks seventh in PIR per 40 minutes (28.1) and has been extraordinary over the last four games, averaging 15.3 points on 23-of-31 two-pointers (74.2% 2FG), 9.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and a PIR of 23.8. Jasiel Rivero has also raised his effectiveness to rank 34th in PIR per 40 minutes (22.5). In the last couple of games, Rivero has averaged 13.5 points on 90.9% two-point shooting and a PIR of 1.8 in less than 14 minutes.
It is do-or-die time for both teams, so expect nothing but intensity, great plays and a lot of action at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday, with the action getting underway at 20:30 CET.